Digger overturns on Victoria Gate construction site

Work on the Victoria Gate development in Leeds took a dramatic turn this afternoon when a large digger overturned on site.

Nearby office worker David Joseph tweeted this photo of the excavator lying on its side, while workmen look on.

He told the Yorkshire Evening Post: “I didn’t see it happen, I just saw the commotion in the office and I wandered over to see what everyone was looking at.

“I think everyone was a bit shocked. You don’t expect a digger to be on its side. It’s pretty big.

“Everyone [on site] looked alright obviously. You could seen them hanging around it.”

Construction work began last month on the site of the £150m shopping centre development.

The scheme will see John Lewis open its first store in the city alongside a retail acrade, restaurants, cafes, casino and multi-storey car park.

A spokesperson for Hammerson said: “We can confirm that a 360 Excavator overturned on the Victoria Gate site today (Friday). No one was injured and a thorough investigation is currently taking place to establish how this incident happened. The works of the subcontractor involved in this incident have been suspended pending further investigation.”

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